One Piece Full Throttle: Rise of the Eagle
by Yajuu-Kikuishi
Summary: Finally on their way within the Grand Line, Kai Velure's crew continues with their adventures as pirates within a great age. However, forces move that could shake the very foundation of the world as it is known. The Order of the White Eagle has spread its talons wide, but how succesful will they be? (Sequel to 'One Piece Full Throttle')
1. Prologue: Part One

**- Prologue: Part One -**

The island was in a corner of the new world that few people knew about, and even fewer people dared to visit. It was not the largest island on the planet, but it served the purpose it had been occupied for, leaving no room for much else however. Near the centre of the island stood a castle that made other castle's look like townhouses; its towers and ramparts dwarfing any comparisons. The stone that constructed it was a dull grey, washed out with years of rain and weather. However, despite its long time standing, it could still hold out to all but the most determined of attackers.

The walls were not the only thing that would stop any invaders, however, with armoured guards spread out like ants, all well trained and deadly in their jobs. Not that anyone could get close to the castle without meeting thousands more soldiers, all ready to march into battle at a moment's notice. It was these soldier's that dropped to one knee, on hand resting on the pommel of their swords, the other clenched into a fist and resting on the ground by the knuckles, as the large figure garbed in black armour walked past them.

Most of the soldiers, even stood up, would only have reached the stomach of the man, if they were tall, as he passed by them but all of them dropped to a knee as he passed. His hair was cut into short bristles and his stark yellow eyes glared forward, seeing nothing except his goal. He wore armour from neck-to-toe in matte black armour, plated to allow easier movement, underneath a tattered brown cloak which hung down to his ankles, concealing most of his armour beneath. A long handle poked over his right shoulder, reaching the top of his head and wrapped in a white fabric with a trail of it hanging down to his shoulder.

The giant figure strode purposely through the front gates to the castle, the large gridded drop-gates opening just enough for his head to clear, before dropping down behind him. More guards dropped to their knees as he passed, turning a number of corners before coming to a large staircase that led up to what could be described as an open courtyard. It was surrounded on all sides by soldiers bearing shields as big as a chest and long spears topped with wicked looking blades about a foot long.

As the tall figure approached, one of the guards stepped aside to allow him entry, but otherwise they showed no sign he even existed; in high contrast to those he had already passed. The figure showed no discomfort though and continued his stride, uninterrupted, into the open area and towards the large tree which had been planted in the centre.

It was a massive tree, it's trunk as thicker than the strongest mast in the world, with branches that spiralled into the sky in seemingly infinite patterns. Its leaves were vivid and full, despite the cold winter air that surrounded it, and it seemed alive as any man as the armoured figure approached. He was not the only one in attendance though as another figure was stood at the base of the tree, his hands resting against the bark as though he was expecting something to happen. He stopped this as the black-clad figure approached and turned to face him.

"My Lord Griffin." The armour-clad man said, placing a closed fist to his chest.

"Please, Rokushii, there is no one in attendance but you and I." the man called Griffin said.

"As you wish Noah."

Noah Griffin was a tall man, although still dwarfed by Rokushii, and he held himself like the commander he was. Unlike his posture, however, his clothes were more akin to that of a peasant; he was wearing a loose fitting red top, the buttons at his neck left undone to reveal his chest, tucked into brown trousers which were in turn tucked into a pair of high black boots, polished to a shine; at his waist he wore a rapier-style sword. He had long blonde hair that fell below his shoulders, tied back into a ponytail and smooth brown eyes that seemed to hold the knowledge of the world.

"How fares the world?" Noah asked, his usual question when he wanted to know how the legions of his army fared in their appointments around the world.

"Our plans progress smoothly, if a little slowly." Rokushii said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "We already have control of most of the East and North Blues, with our forces pushing deeper into South Blue as we speak. The most trouble seems to come from West Blue, for some reason that has yet to be discovered." He uncrossed his arms and glanced around the square. "Our forces have, however, gained full control of Reverse Mountain and are managing to cull even the most excitable of passers."

"Your brother is in command there, yes?" Noah asked, leaning back against the trunk of the tree.

"Captain Hartland does a fine job in his command, soon enough he will command his legion further into the Grand Line, where we can gain control of the kingdoms of the world."

"And the Marines?"

"The Marines are hardly a force that can compare with the legions, but they still cause trouble whenever they can." Rokushii hesitated slightly before adding "They seem not to have the heart to counter us fully."

"What are your concerns?"

"The World Government must be aware of our forces, and yet the only opposition from Marine's is from the bases already stationed in various locations. There has not been any kind of force sent against us."

"My plans stretch to all parts of the world, Rokushii, even the World Government is not exempt. Although it is strange I have heard nothing of any plan, we will have to keep our eyes and ears clear." Noah stepped away from tree and raised a hand to his face, running it along his firm chin. "Something else troubles you Rokushii." He said, looking up at the man.

Rokushii frowned and dropped his hands to his sides. "I met quite the interesting man, at the entrance to the Grand Line." He said. "He moved with such grace and such strength, I nearly decided to fight him there and then. He would even put that black sword swordsman to shame, I suspect."

"A pirate?"

"Yes, with a small crew at the moment; although he no doubt wishes to recruit more in the Grand Line. I left my brother to deal with him, so I suspect he is already dead, his crew along with him."

"Do you think Lester will be able to beat him?"

"It shall be a tough fight, but Captain Hartland will be victorious, I have no doubt in that."

"Mmm, perhaps all our victories are about to be thrown back into our faces…" Noah mused, stepping past Rokushii and resting his hands on his belt.

"What do you mean? I…" Rokushii suddenly stopped talking and turned away from Noah, and looked towards the large tree they were stood under. His peaceful face suddenly hardened to stone and a deadly gleam appeared in his eyes. With deliberate slowness, his hand reached up and grasped the hilt of whatever he had on his back. With the swiftness of many hours training, the massive weapon was pulled free of his cloak and sliced into the tree; bludgeoning its way through as much as slicing.

Rokushii's weapon turned out to be a humongous sword, nearly as long as he was tall. It was a simple affair however, its long handle wrapped in white fabric, leading to a bar of steel with two prongs shaped like a long 'U' which held the mighty blade; coloured a dark steel and standing nearly two-feet wide.

It was easily long enough to cleave through the tree with no problem, which it did, and as Rokushii completed his swing, the tree dropped to the floor and slowly collapsed; away from the pair of soldiers.

"It seems rats are common here." Rokushii said as the tree settled.

The surface bark of the tree seemed to ripple before something rose out of it, forming into a man sat on the tree. He was sprawled as though sitting on a sofa, his elbow resting on the wood with his head resting in his hands. His head was completely bald, and a pair of circular glasses, mirrored to hide his eyes, sat on his nose. A fedora was perched on his head, while he wore a beige overcoat over a standard Marine uniform. The bars of rank on the shoulders of his jacked made him a Commodore.

"A Commodore?" Rokushii sneered, resting his gargantuan blade on his armoured shoulder, his tattered cloak blowing in the breeze. "It seems the plan the World Government devised was as much an insult as an invasion."

"Do not count your money until the game is finished, Rokushii." Noah said as he clasped his hands behind his back.

As soon as he finished speaking, the whole courtyard shook and geysers of volcanic magma spurted into the air in a circle around Noah and Rokushii; killing and maiming the guards who had no chance of fighting back. The Commodore looked uneasily towards the magma, but stayed where he was as another figure walked in their direction, a long white coat resting on his wide shoulders.

Under the coat, the man wore a dark red suit, with a flowery shirt open at his neck. A Marine cap was pulled low on his square face as black smoke billowed from his shoulders and back.

"An Admiral, that is more like it." Rokushii said, glancing towards the newcomer.

"Admiral Akainu, how are you today?" Noah asked, seemingly nonchalant as molten lava splashed around him. "A pleasant trip I take it?"

Akainu didn't reply, instead his face a calm complexion of getting ready to eliminate someone. Abruptly, the ground in front of his feet splintered and a ragged crack in the ground shot forward, glowing with the heat of the magma flowing just beneath the surface.

It headed straight for Noah, but the man didn't even try to avoid it as he watched Rokushii step in front of him and spear the ground with the end of his massive sword. The head of the crack met the edge of Rokushii's sword, but instead of melting it or shifting it out of the way; it was somehow deflected away from either Noah or Rokushii.

Rokushii didn't wait to see what Akainu would try next and strode forward two steps before swinging his sword wide, in a clear attempt to cleave the Admiral in half. Akainu didn't outwardly react as the huge blade sped towards him but it was clear in his eyes that he had a plan, which was thrown away when Noah shouted.

"Rokushii!" he called, and although just shouting his name, Rokushii knew what it meant as he froze in mid-swing, his sword edge millimetre's from Akainu's side. However, he didn't move his blade away. Akainu kept his gaze locked on Rokushii for a couple of seconds before sweeping his gaze to Noah; where he saw something perhaps more dangerous. "My men, Akainu, how many are still alive?"

The Marine Admiral took a moment to consider, despite Rokushii's blade a millisecond away from slicing him in half, before answering. "The men you have gathered live for the moment, I was only given one name by the Five."

Noah seemed to release a held breath, despite not changing his pose. "That is good to hear. Despite the fact I am at war, death does trouble me so; especially in the ranks of my own men."

"And who is it you are at war with?" The Commodore said suddenly, still lounging on the tree.

"Why, the world of course; and anyone who may stand in my way." Noah replied joyfully, without a smile.

The commodore started to speak again but a glare from Akainu silenced him. "Enough of this…" he started but Noah interrupted him before he could finish.

"I agree; Rokushii." Noah said, turning away from Akainu as Rokushii acted.

He sprung to life again and his sword began swinging again, picking up speed so fast it was as if he had never stopped in the first place. Akainu didn't even have time to react, if he had wanted to, before he was cut in half, leaving his body from the waist down quivering where he had stood.

Akainu's upper half, however, didn't fall to the ground. Instead, it clung to the edge of Rokushii's sword and balanced on top as the soldier completed his swing. Dripping dark red magma from his 'wound', Akainu's upper body slid up Rokushii's sword, leaving a trail in his wake, and he raised a dark red fist before slamming it into Rokushii's chest.

The General was taken aback, and took a step back as a torrent of magma slammed into his chest and splattered across his black armour; a small drip splashing into his face causing a small stream of burning smoke spiralling into the air. Akainu was already moving on, his legs having melted into a puddle and sliding across the floor to join with his upper half which was falling off Rokushii and joining the rest on the floor. As Akainu's body began to reform however, the side of Rokushii's sword slammed into his side and he was sent flying through the air.

As he flew, Akainu reformed fully but still trailed magma, before he slammed into the side of a stone building; burning an imprint of his body into it before dropping to a knee on the floor, glaring angrily towards Rokushii, who was shouldering his sword as if he wasn't covered in magma.

The magma on his armour was slowly sliding down the black-plating metal and the only indication it was having any effect at all was the fact his tattered brown cloak had caught aflame. "Not what you were expecting Admiral?" Rokushii questioned, feigning innocence.

Before Akainu could answer, however, there was a cry from behind them and the Commodore leapt off the fallen tree towards the still calm Noah. Noah still didn't react, despite the man leaping at him, and Rokushii suddenly appeared beside him, slamming the side of his sword into the marine, and sending him in the opposite direction to Akainu, although he also slammed into a stone wall before sliding to the ground; staying on his feet. He had cracks running along his face and flowing over his jacket and uniform.

As he stood up, the cracks melding into nothing, Rokushii narrowed his eyes. "What is your name, Commodore?" he asked, shouldering his weapon again.

"I am Commodore William Cabot, Marine-In-Charge of the 77th Marine Division." The Commodore replied, standing straighter and locking eyes with the giant before him.

"Interesting, I shall make sure your grave is marked correctly, Commodore Cabot." Rokushii said before spinning his sword off his shoulder and slamming the point into the ground, sending spider webs of cracks out. "Now, shall we continue the dance?"

William Cabot hardly managed to contain his surprise that Rokushii clearly wanted to fight both him and Akainu at the same time. Akainu simply stood up and brushed imaginary dust from his coat before he pulled the white marine coat from his shoulders and threw it to the ground.

_A/N: And so I return! Eventually! It was only because I was trying to decide what to use in my 'prologue' as it were. I had about a thousand ideas but decided to settle on this little encounter between the Order of the White Eagle, and the Marines. I have plan to get him back for what he did to poor Ace (poor, poor Ace), so don't think you won't get to see the end of this confrontation; it's going to be awesome. Anyway, credit goes to **Son of Whitebeard** for 'Commodore William Cabot'._

_Hopefully I'll have as many supporters in this story as I did for its Prequel and I hope you enjoy this one as much as the last, hell, hopefully you'll enjoy it all the more, I've got some awesome things planned for this one._

_Until next time, faithful readers!_


	2. Prologue: Part Two

**- Prologue: Part Two -**

The man was relatively tall, disregarding the mountain of mutants and freaks that seemed to inhabit the world, and his tanned skin was muscled and well-toned. His short blue hair was spiked up and a purple headband covered his forehead, framing his dark brown eyes. He was wearing a navy blue jacket, fur lining the collar, with brown shorts tasselled in green, and dark brown boots on his feet. Strangely, he was wearing a set of fingerless gloves that had small metal disks sewn onto the knuckles and the palms had been cut into open circles.

He was lounging on a dark leather sofa, shifting through a small pile of paper he held in his hands. More paper surrounded him on the sofa and even more so was spread across the floor in various sized piles; most of it looked well used. Even as he lounged there, he shifted and placed the paper from his hands to a pile on the backrest beside him, and picked up another pile from where it had been resting at his feet. As his eyes read through the lines, the far door of the room opened to reveal a uniformed man with a cap pulled low on his head.

"Susumu?" he questioned, glancing around the room while trying hard not to look at the man on the sofa. When there was no reply, the man stepped further into the room, cleared his throat, and tried again. "Royal Shichibukai Susumu?"

The man on the sofa jumped at the voice this time, sending paper flying in all directions, as he scrambled to turn around and face the man. After a quick scan of him with delving eyes, he settled back on the sofa with a warm smile plastered on his face; although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Commander, how can I help you?" Susumu asked, leaning back against the back of the sofa, pushing more paper to the floor.

"May I come in?" The Marine Commander asked.

"Well, since you're mostly in already, you might as well complete the journey." Susumu said, gesturing into the room. "I'd offer you a seat, but I fear there is no room to spare."

The Commander looked around the room as he stepped in, carefully avoiding the stacks of paper, and closed the door behind him. "What I am about to say is not to be repeated to any authority, it is of the utmost secrecy." The Commander said, reaching into a pocket on the inside of his jacket.

"I'm sorry?" Susumu said, his smile wavering slightly as he tried to figure out what the man was. However, his unasked question was answered as the man pulled out a bronze emblem shaped in the joined five dots of the world government. "Well, well, well, I haven't had contact with a 'Shadow' for a very long time."

The Shadow smiled slightly as he slipped the emblem back into his pocket. "We aren't sent out very often, certainly not to the same person twice. It seems, however, that you are somewhat of a special case; thanks to your…unique abilities."

Susumu frowned at that but he understood what the man was talking about. "Fair enough, what do the old men want with me this time? I've got other things planned."

It was the Shadow's turn to frown this time, but he let the comment slide. "You should know that a direct order overrides anything you may wish to be doing yourself. Especially when it comes from…" he stopped as Susumu raised a hand.

"Don't spool that at me." Susumu said sternly, a hint of anger on his normally aloof face. "Now get on with it."

Again, the Shadow frowned but continued. "A particular pirate has re-emerged recently into the world of pirating recently and we want you to destroy him and the new crew he is gathering." Susumu raised an eyebrow and the Shadow continued. "He is a very dangerous individual, one who shouldn't be underestimated in the slightest. A number of years ago, he was probably the most dangerous individual in the world; along with his old crew."

"This is starting to sound familiar…" Susumu muttered and started shifting through a pile of paper to his side as the Shadow continued.

"He has already met up with one of his old crew, and it is suspected he will try and meet up with anyone of the others. Should he gain the power he had back then, the world could fall apart at the seams."

"Is this him?" Susumu said, throwing a sketch at the Shadow, who snatched it out of the air with surprising nimbleness. The picture was a sketch of a man's face, blue hair spiked up, clear blue eyes, and a number of small scar-marks running down the side of his face. "Kai Velure, right?" The Shadow nodded and placed the picture on the floor. "We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago; the Fleet Admiral warned us about this guy. As a nice coincidence, he was also about to become my next target."

"Why is that?" the Shadow asked.

"That's my business. Your business just seems to be that I will go after him and his crew as you wish." Susumu stood up and brushed himself down before heading for the door. "You can tell your bosses that I will start immediately." He swung the door open slowly, as not to disturb the paper in the room, and started out before stopping at a cough from the Shadow.

"Clearly, you already know where you are going so I will not need to tell you. However, you must be aware what my bosses will do if you should fail this task."

"I am well aware of the nature of their threats, Shadow. Just be sure no-one gets in my way." Susumu said darkly before the warm smile he had at the beginning of the conversation sprang onto his face again. "Have a nice day, Commander." He stepped out into the hallway and shut the door, leaving the Shadow to sit alone in the dark.

The door from his current quarters led out into a curved hallway, abandoned except for a pair of boys mopping the floor at the far end. Flashing his smile at them, making one of them jump and the other drop his mop in surprise, Susumu turned the other way down the hall and strode quickly towards the set of double doors at the far end. He didn't slow down as he reached it, instead lifting his arms and swinging both doors open before he passed through them.

The doors led to what was the inspection area for troops when the Marine-In-Charge decided they needed one. It was a large open plan room with a white tiled floor and railed balconies running along three sides of the room, the ends disappearing in the fourth wall. With the exception of one man, sat at the far end, the room was completely empty. Susumu's smile flickered but he kept it up as he strode across the room towards its sole inhabitant.

"You!" he called, making the individual jump to his feet and get half way to a salute before freezing, finally looking at who was approaching him. "What is your name…" he paused to look at the rank on his shoulders "…Petty Officer?"

"Sir, Ryan Lockhearth, Sir." Ryan said slowly, clearly unsure how to address the pirate before him.

"Well, Petty Officer Lockhearth, I need you to go and find me a commissioned officer and ask him to meet me at main door to the docks. Be sharp about it." Susumu was all politeness, but the clear order was easy enough to see, even to a Petty Officer. As such, Ryan jumped away and dashed to one of the doors in the back of the room, no doubt aiming to find a higher ranking marine to pass the message on to.

Susumu was in a rush, but he didn't show it as he casually strolled through corridors full of marines, greeting a few of them he knew by name and others by rank. He dodged through people when he needed to, but most of the time the marines, no matter what rank, parted to give him room. Because of this, he reached the door to the docks, just as a Marine Captain stepped up to him.

"Royal Shichibukai Susumu, how may I be of assistance?" He had a stiff voice that made it clear he didn't like talking to a pirate, no matter their role.

"I need someone to fetch my weapon from the armoury, I'm sure you're aware of which one it is?" The Captain nodded, Susumu's weapon of choice was well known. "Also, I need someone to bring me the bounty posters of Kai Velure and his new crew."

"The Silver Age?" The Captain asked.

"What?"

"I believe that is what people are calling that man's new crew; the Silver Age of Kai Velure."

"Interesting…" Susumu mused before nodding and gesturing the Captain to his duties. Which he did with great haste, all the sooner to be away from him, Susumu guessed.

Without further delay, he swung open the dock doors and immediately stepped out into thick snow, like a blizzard. With the exception of the wind ruffling his clothes, the snow did not seem to affect him in any way as he pushed his way through a couple of feet of it towards the water. When he reached the water's edge, nearly a whole ten minutes despite the relatively short distance, he ignored all the massive marine ships and instead headed for a small one-man dinghy type boat with a single small sail planted in the centre of its deck.

Kicking snow out of his way as he went, he hopped into the boat and set about clearing the heavy snowfall of the deck, sail, and rigging so as to make as quick a getaway as he could manage. It took him a good half an hour to get everything clear to his satisfaction, but it was actually well timed as two figures in heavy winter cloaks pushed through the snow to get to him.

Susumu watched casually, ignoring the slow falling snow, as the two figures approached; one with a bundle of paper and one with a huge battle axe in a small sledge. The axe seemed to be made for someone a lot bigger then Susumu, the thick handle being nearly as long as himself, and the broad moon-head blade easily wider then a human waist. A thick, foot and a half of spiked steel reared out of the opposite side of the blade, to balance the blade's weight and made it look a hundred times more deadly.

When the two marines, neither of them the Captain from before, stopped at the edge of the water, as he had done earlier, Susumu hopped up to meet them, directing his attention towards the one with the papers first. He held out his hands and the marine straightened the pile before dropping it into Susumu's hands and didn't say a word before turning on his heel and heading straight back his own path to the building.

"Thank you." Susumu said, despite the man already out of earshot. The stack of papers now in his hands consisted of only four sheets, the face of Kai Velure prominent on top. "Good, this will do." He muttered to himself before turning to the second marine.

"Thank you very much, Marine." Susumu said politely, stepping past the man and picking up the massive axe as though it was made of paper. "You've done well to get this here as fast as you did; it is not an easy thing to carry." The marine nodded and then he too turned on his heel and walked quickly back to the building, sledge dragging behind him as he went.

Susumu stepped back into the boat carefully, the added weight of his weapon rocking it precariously, and rested the axe against the back of the mast. At the same time, he pulled a number of small knives from the back of his shorts and with a definitive 'thud' sound he stuck the four posters to the wall; Kai at the top, followed by Doctor, Marshall, and finally Nate. "You don't stand a chance 'Silver Age'…" Susumu muttered, as he raised the anchor and let the sail loose, the vicious icy winds sending him speeding into the straight that would lead him into the open sea.

When he was happy he wasn't going to sink, Susumu dropped to the deck and rested his back against the railed side. He dug into his jacket and pulled out an object that looked a little like an hour glass, only there was no sand inside, just a needle floating in the middle. He turned the object around in his hand until a name plate flashed in the light.

'_Jazaquia'_

Susumu stared at the name before jerking forward and placing the Eternal Pose by the head of his axe, eyes locked onto it to make sure he was always going the right way. He leant back, eyes still locked on the Pose, and began preparations in his mind about how he was going to take down Kai and his Silver Age.

_A/N: 'Royal Shichibukai Susumu' is the brain child of **Newtilator**, so credit goes to him for that particular character. With that, the introduction to the beginning Arc for this story is revealed; it gives you a little bit of an idea of what you can expect, but don't think you'll be able to figure it all out! :) So keep on reading, my dear readers! _


	3. Into The Grand Line

_A/N: I'm soooooo sorry, please read on without any distractions from me for now!_

**- 1 -**

**- Into the Grand Line -**

The floating dock had become a battlefield, beholden to a battle of a scale the carpenter could not have expected; despite the severe lack of length the battle took on. Cracks ran along nearly every board, planks stuck up at varying angles, and there were even a number of holes revealing the slightly choppy sea beneath. Bodies were strewn around seemingly at random, some apparently intact others in varying states of destruction. The remnants of what seemed to have been a tented camp also lay strewn across the decking, all made of the same plain fabric save one. This tent had been made of a near black fabric and had golden ropes holding it steady. This tent now lay in tatters.

If one was to stroll through this battlefield they would notice that the bodies suddenly grew thicker, their number multiplying until the decking seemed to vanish beneath bodies and blood. Gradually the bodies started gaining tendrils of a clear glass-like substance covering their bodies, running where their veins would inside their bodies. Even the substance multiplied until the bodies were completely covered in the substance, frozen in varying positions of pure terror and action. This lead on to some kind of sculpture that had not been cut from the substance, but instead seemed to have been originally created by it.

This sculpture took on the form of a throne covered with thorns and spikes; complete with a man slouched in the chair with an elbow resting on the arm and the head in the hand. A number of feet in front of the sculpture, a second one stood; this one taking on the form of a cross sat at a slight slant to the right. Another figure was on this one, but he was no sculpture. He had shaggy black hair that hung down to the nape of his neck in wild waves and vivid orange eyes that stood out against his tanned skin. The man wore the remnants of some kind of uniform, including a strange set of matte black armour. The armour consisted of a black plated cuirass, black plated backed gloves, and black plated front and backed boots. Under that he had been wearing loose fitting black cotton.

However, all of his clothes were in disrepair, the cuirass holding a number of strangely shaped dents while the fabric was torn and cut in a number of places. This was also true for the man himself, with slices and cuts running across every bit of skin on show. Most notably was a large iron nail pierced through his left eye, and a large bit of metal sticking out of his abdomen. His arms were stretched along the length of the cross and large spikes, made out of the same substance as the cross, were driven through his wrists while his feet rested on a small platform and more spikes were driven through his ankles. His body was slumped forward, allowing his chin to rest on his chest. A large round shield, matte black with a golden eagle emblazoned on the front, lay at the base of the cross with two fist marks imprinted in the metal.

Then the diamond statue blinked.

"How long has he been like that?" Doctor asked.

Dr Doctor Umbra was an old man with white hair that hung to his shoulders and a beard to match. His right eye is dark grey but his left is milked over with blindness. Doctor takes to wearing a green bandana wrapped around his head, allowing his hair to hang out the back, with a battered leather cowboy hat resting on top. He wears a loose fitting white top, with an open collar to his chest, with baggy sleeves tight at the wrist tucked into a blue sash under a slanted turquoise one. Under that he wore a pair of brown shorts tied below the knee and wooden clogs on bare feet.

"A couple of days, he doesn't react to anything except threats." Nemo replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Nemo Kale was a similar size to Doctor but that was the only similarities between the two. Nemo was young with an athletic build, tanned skin and ill controlled blonde hair. His eyes were dark blue and had vicious bags underneath them, a testament to his power. He was wearing a grey tank-top under a tattered sweat-jacket, dirty blue jeans and heavy working-style boots. Strapped to his back was a long katana-length pipe.

"You threatened him?" Doctor asked incredulously

Nemo shook his head with a bemused smile. "Not me, Marshall threw a little bit of a tantrum yesterday. He's still nursing his broken nose." At that moment, Marshall himself stepped out of one of the few remaining tents. Although it had healed, his nose was still wonky, with the tip pointing slightly to the right.

"Why didn't he come to see me?" Doctor said with a frown. "There's nothing I can do for it now."

"He's scared of you." Nemo said simply just as Marshall stopped next to them.

Marshall Kubin, former member of the Kumar Pirates, stood about a foot taller than both Doctor and Nemo. He had white hair hanging to his shoulders that spiked back in random directions and strange sparkling red eyes. His chest was bare, and he wore a rounded leather armour piece on his left shoulder that led down to a criss-crossing of leather straps that ran down his left arm to his wrist. He was wearing loose purple trousers that were fastened at the waist by a black sash and at the ankles by thin black rope. His feet remained bare, with rough soles and cracked nails told the fact that he never wore shoes. He was also missing the entirety of his right arm; all the way up to the shoulder.

Marshall ignored Nemo's comment; instead he started to cross his arms before realising he couldn't and nodded his head towards the diamond sculpture. "So what are we going to do with him?" he asked, his normally menacing voice somewhat hampered by the light rasping his broken nose was causing.

Doctor considered for a minute and then ran a hand down his long beard. "We'll give him one more day and if he hasn't recovered by then, I'll have to do something."

"Something?" Nemo asked, glancing across at the statues.

"Something." Doctor confirmed and turned away from the other two men before walking back to the tent he had claimed as his own.

"You need to learn to control your anger." Nemo said to Marshall, stepping back slightly so he didn't need to crane his head as much to look up at him.

"What?" Marshall growled, glancing down at the First Mate.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. You're lucky you only ended up with a broken nose after antagonizing something you don't understand. If you did that with an enemy, they wouldn't be so kind as to stop at your nose. Learn to control it, or you'll be dead the next time you face someone stronger then you." Nemo finished with a nod and then started to walk away but stopped for one final glance back. "And trust me, you'll meet people stronger then you."

Marshall was left alone but didn't hang around any longer then he had to, despite outer acting, he held an innate fear for the diamond statuette that was his Captain.

The next day, when Marshall arrived, Doctor and Nemo were already waiting at the spot they had had their conversation the day before. Marshall had hung his two swords on the hooks attached to the leather shoulder guard. Both Rekishichizu and Ryuujin Toorima were intimidating in size and shape, although crafted differently, and each had a bonus the other did not. Nemo eyed the swords but Marshall noted he had his katana-length pipe strapped to his back as well. Doctor looked no different but Marshall knew he didn't carry any weapons, or anything of the like.

The diamond sculptures, as well as the body on the cross, had not moved except that the diamond man was now sat forward with his elbows resting on his knees. Doctor walked around the throne until he was standing in front of the man, where he slowly raised his hands and gently placed them on his shoulders. Nothing happened for a number of minutes and Marshall had started to fidget when Doctor let out a low chuckled and stepped away.

"Looks like he's asleep." He said with a smirk, and raised a hand to flick the figure in the forehead.

When he did, the figures head snapped back at the diamond shattered like glass, revealing a man with blue hair underneath, a scattering of scars running along the right side of his face.

"Holy hell Doctor! I'm awake, I'm awake!" He cried as he jumped to his feet, shattering the remaining diamond to reveal his body, and clutched at a red mark that rested on his head where Doctor had hit him.

Kai Velure was a tall man by normal standards, freaks like Marshall don't count to him, with short spikey hair coloured a dull blue and eye that shined a crystal blue. His muscled body is thick and strong, yet still somehow slender and lithe. He wears a tight black top with the sleeves ripped off, leaving tattered edges at his shoulders, a wide brown belt and loose fitting white trousers tucked into high brown boots that are laced tightly down the front.

As the famed captain hopped around, the diamond throne and the diamond encasing most of the nearby bodies cracked and splintered before collapsing to the ground; leaving only the cross with the man upon it. The diamond fragments then started to shuffle along the ground before sliding across to Kai's feet, where they disappeared into his boots until the area was clear of the diamond fragments. Suddenly Kai calmed down and turned to face Nemo and Marshall, who were looking on with strange expressions on their faces.

Kai burst out laughing, wiping imaginary tears from his eyes. "You guys thought I'd gone, didn't you!?" he continued laughing before taking a deep breath to calm himself and wiping one last tear away. "You're too serious, seriously."

Marshall rolled his eyes and turned away, heading back towards his tent. Nemo looked as if he wanted to stay but Kai gestured his head in Marshall's direction and then in Doctors. The intent was clear; he wanted to talk to Doctor alone. Nemo nodded and turned away, following Marshall out of the area.

"So what are you going to do with him?" Doctor asked, nodding at the body on the cross.

Kai walked up and stood next to his old friend, one hand resting on his belt while the other stroked his chin. "Lester Hartland of the Amplitudo Primoris was a fine opponent for Diamante Dios, but that doesn't excuse him for what he did. He can stay there and become a message for whoever comes back to find out what happened to him."

Doctor nodded in agreement and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "And what about you?"

Kai thought about making a joke but decided against it. "I've come back now, I can control it."

"Are you sure."

"No. But that'll have to do for now, my mission is not yet complete."

"Speaking of that, what are you planning to do with our passenger on the ship?"

"I'd like to leave him at one of our lock-ups but I can get myself to trust someone won't try to rescue him. He'll stay there until I'm ready to deal with him, along with his friends if the plan goes my way."

"When does it never?" Doctor asked with a grin.

"All the time." Kai replied with a similar grin forming around the long practiced words.

"So where are we planning to go next?" Doctor said.

"That way!" Kai replied simply, and pointed across seemingly in a random direction.

"I thought so." Doctor replied with a smile and reached into his pocket to pull out a strange compass-like object with a glass sphere and hanging needle in the middle. "I found this in one of the tents, probably be useful."

"A log pose! Magnificent!" Kai exclaimed and took the object to strap it to his belt by the straps. "So, ready to try again?"

"What, 'again' again?" Doctor asked, his sly grin still in place.

"Yes, I suppose so." Kai replied as Doctor nodded. "So gather the crew and meet me on the ship, we need to get this adventure started!"

So, a couple of hours later, Kai's crew were pretty much ready to sail. "I've only got one more thing to do." Kai said and raised his arm until his hand was pointing towards Reverse Mountain's entrance to the Grand Line. He slowly closed his hand into a fist, and as he did so a large burg of diamond rose from the water and smashed through the floating dock the Order of the White Eagle had created to capture pirate crews entering the Grand Line. Kai then let the burg sink away and turned to face the three others that made up his crew.

"The Grand Line, my friends. It's going to be a hell of a ride!" then with a shout, the four of them got the ship into a condition to sail and headed out in the direction Kai had pointed before; the way the Log Pose at his waist was also pointing.

_A/N: I've done it at last! Man, this must be about the 12__th__ iteration of this chapter; for some reason I kept writing stuff I didn't like. I hope you enjoyed it though, however late it may be, and I bid you to keep your eyes and ears open for the next chapter heading your way as soon as possible. As a reminder for those who have forgotten, credit is due where due for the creator of __**Nemo Kale**__, so thanks to __**Stevethemime**__ for sending him my way._

_See you soon!_


	4. On To Jazaquia

**- 2 -**

**- On To Jazaquia -**

"So where the hell are we heading?" Marshall asked, his back leaning against the railing at the side of the ship.

"No idea!" Kai replied from here he was sitting on the railing by Marshall.

The first couple of days on the Grand Line had been insane weather pattern after insane weather pattern. They had been soaked, frozen, burned, nearly drowned, and the like but neither Kai nor Doctor seemed to be worried. It had only been half a day since the weather had calmed down enough to leave Doctor on the helm and the sails to themselves. Kai had explained the weather phenomenon as the result of the conflicting magnetic fields the islands of the Grand Line gave off. When Marshall had questioned this, Kai had leapt into a full blown explanation of the islands' magnetic fields and unique weather patterns, finishing with the explanation of why anyone traversing the Grand Line needed a Log or Eternal Pose.

This was why Marshall was still confused as to why Kai and Doctor didn't know where they were heading. "You've traversed the Grand Line already. I know the Golden Age made it to the New World so how come you don't know where you're going?"

"Because last time Doctor and I took a different route to this one." Kai replied with a sigh; it was the third time he had explained this.

"A different route?"

"When you enter the Grand Line through Reverse Mountain, by using a Log Pose and a general idea of the direction you want to head in, you can chose one of the separate routes that the Log Pose will take you. Once the Log Pose locks onto the first island, the route is set; you can't change it because you can't navigate the Grand Line without a log pose. The only way to change route, would be to get a hold of an Eternal Pose; a Pose which is permanently locked onto whichever island it was created at. Following?"

"Ok, I get that now. But why choose a route you are unfamiliar with, surely that makes it harder to traverse the Grand Line."

"No, it makes it more of an adventure!"

Marshall rolled his eyes. "I should have expected an answer like that."

"Jazaquia." A voice said, causing Marshall and Kai to look across at Doctor. "Nemo's on the helm." He added as Kai looked at him. "Buy anyway, I don't know the route exactly but I know Jazaquia is the second or third island on this route."

"How do you know that?" Kai asked, clearly he was confused how Doctor knew something he didn't.

"I'm an old man now Kai, I travelled the world a lot while we were apart." He smiled wistfully but continued. "But that's not the reason I know. My brother has lived here all his life."

If Marshall was surprised that Doctor had a brother he didn't show it, but Kai's face broke out into a smile. "Oh, Nurse! How is he doing?"

"You're never going to let that go, are you? He's going to be pissed when he realises you're with me." Doctor chuckled. "Once we get to Jazaquia, I'd suggest meeting up with him as soon as possible, he won't have a problem housing pirates and it'd be more incognito than a bar or inn."

"That sounds like a fine plan, Doctor. But let's wait until we actually arrive there before doing anything. We've still got one or two islands between here and there." Kai jumped to his feet and lunged towards the front of the ship before jumping onto the pointed figure head. He seemed to have forgotten about Doctor and Marsh when he suddenly turned to the Doctor. "You see that?"

Doctor frowned and walked up until he was stood next to Kai but with his feet still planted flat on the deck. He gazed out across the sea with keen eyes despite his age and noticed the same thing Kai had. "Well, would you look at that. I'd say we've come across our first island already."

"What, really!? It took more than a week to find an island the first time round; I wonder if there are more islands in this route?" Kai wondered as he dropped back down to the deck. "Nemo!" he shouted, causing the pirate to jump. "Full speed ahead, I plan to be docked within the next couple of hours!"

With a look from Kai, Doctor and Marshall both moved and set around the ship, pulling various ropes and things in order to get the ship going as fast as it would go. Kai himself stayed where he was, gazing across the calm sea to the island they were coming up on. As they drew closer and closer, Kai guessed that it was a spring island due to the rich foliage and pleasant sea breeze blowing across his face. He reached down and pulled on the Log Pose at his waist, raising it so it was level to the ground, and saw that the red side of the needle was pointing exactly towards the island. This told Kai that this island was indeed the first island on this particular route.

Soon enough, they were close enough that Kai could have leapt to shore if had wished, although he didn't, and Doctor was now at the helm. He was skilfully gliding along the coast while Marshall and Nemo were looking for a good spot to dock up on. Kai didn't want to go all the way around the island looking for an actual dock and even if they did, he knew there was no telling what the reaction to pirates would be. Eventually Kai got bored and ordered Doctor to pull up in an inlet of mostly level ground. Doctor complied and swung the ship in with skill, even turning it around so the front of the ship faced out.

With a command from Kai, Marshall released the anchor, allowing the heavy metal to sink into the water until a thud sounded indicating it was shallower than Kai had guessed. The Captain shrugged and the four of them quickly folded the sails away and tied everything away so that they were ready to visit the shore.

"Right then, Doctor, you can stay and look after the ship; you two follow me!" Kai said as he leapt over the railing of the ship and landed gracefully on the land nearby. Marshall and Nemo were not quite so nimble and after a couple of minutes they met up with Kai, having taken a small rowing boat across. "Don't you go breaking anything now!" Kai shouted back at Doctor, who rolled his eyes and left the railing to go below deck. With a gesture from Kai the three on shore began their trek into the unknown.

The trees around them were tall and green and the grass beneath their feet was fresh and uncut. Although the trees weren't a thick forest, they weren't exactly sparse and with the lack of a clear path, Kai led his crew mates in a slalom pattern. Just as Kai was beginning to think the forest would go on forever, he suddenly stepped out of a thick bush and into a large circular clearing. He stopped in his tracks and Marshall nearly bumped into his back, while Nemo side stepped neatly to one side.

"Now, isn't that interesting." Kai said, nodding towards what seemed to be a jagged pit dug into the ground. He walked up slowly, Nemo and Marshall in tow, and glanced down.

The pit was about 10 feet deep, and the sides were uneven clumps. However, the strange thing about it was the mostly clear jagged pieces sticking out of the earth and running down the sides to create a spike pit at the base.

"You sure you haven't been here before?" Marshall said with a grin.

Kai smiled and crouched down to grab one of the spikes that were near the top. It came free of its holding with a sharp snap and Kai lifted it to his eyes. "It's glass." He said, dropping the glass shard back into the pit. "It's a pit of glass."

"It's not the only one, take a look." Nemo said from where he had walked further forward than the other two. "There are hundreds of them."

Sure enough, as Kai walked up to stand next to Nemo, there were rows and rows of the glass pits leading off into the forest on the other side of the clearing. "Well, there's only one thing for us to do." he said with a smile.

"What's that?" Marshall said, with a hint of trepidation in his voice.

"Follow it!" he called and strolled off immediately in the direction the pits took. Nemo shrugged and followed suite while Marshall took a little longer to follow, sighing deeply as he moved.

Although the pits didn't exactly form a path, they seemed to be randomly placed; they were more or less leading in a certain direction. Kai followed the 'path' nonchalantly, with Nemo and Marshall drifting behind him, while every now and again looking down into one of the pits. Apparently nothing changed because he kept on moving until the pits started to group very close together before suddenly starting to merge until there was a much larger pit filled with the glass shards.

This larger pit was just as deep as the previous ones but was about the length of ten of the previous pits merged together and twice as wide. As well as the size difference, there were also signs of human life in the form of a set of wooden boards running along the base of the pit, with ladders at each end and shelving-like sets of wood set into the sides. Kai didn't hesitate, jumping into the pit immediately and grabbing the ladder near the bottom to stop himself smashing through the floor and into the spikey pit he knew lay beneath it. While Marshall stopped and looked into the pit from above, Nemo continued walking so that he could examine a pile of what seemed to be tools.

Kai walked the length of the pit quickly, using the shelves of wood occasionally to get a look at some of the glass that was growing out of the walls, before climbing the ladder at the far end. "Looks like this stuff is being mined or collected or something." He said, looking across to Nemo who was examining a long thin object in his hands. "What's that?"

"Some kind of tool no doubt." Nemo replied, almost speaking to himself. "It looks sort of like a chisel, but this curved edge wouldn't make it very useful." He indicated that the length of the metal was curved outwards and it had a rounded tip. "If you say the glass is being mined, perhaps it is the tool they use?"

"Maybe, but it's a bizarre thing to mine; glass. What could they use it for except for windows? If there are many more pits like this, I would think that it would outdo the demand." Kai said, a frown finally marring his face.

"I think it's going to be something more than that." Marshall's voice said from beyond a thicket of trees.

Nemo placed the tool on the ground and followed Kai through the trees until the three of them were stood next to each other. "Now would you look at that?" Kai said, letting a low whistle escape.

Before them was what could only be described as a quarry for glass mining. It was as big as any village and had a multitude of layers lined with wooden boards and ladders and the like. It was a massive operation that was clearly not running at the moment seeing as the entire quarry was empty. That's what Kai thought when he saw a ladder slide off its mounting and clatter to the floor.

Without even thinking he immediately leapt forward, off the edge of the quarry they were stood on, and let himself free fall towards the glassy side. He let his feet hit first and pushed off quickly, flipping him through the air and landing with a heavy thud on a raised wooden platform. Dust shook from the gaps but Kai didn't wait to see if it would collapse, instead he launched himself forward again and bounced off another two wooden platforms before landing on top of the ladder that had collapsed.

He looked up; the ladder had been a long one and seemed to lead into an underground section of the quarry. Kai didn't try to put the ladder in place, instead he just leapt up to the platform that was jutting out and landed gently on it, sending a waterfall of dust falling to where he had just been standing.

"Don't hurt me!" a figure screamed from where he was hiding behind a pile of wooden barrels.

_A/N: And there we go, another chapter for you. Hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you'll enjoy the mini-arc this leads into before moving onto the more dangerous parts! Ta ra for now, and see you soon._


	5. The Island of Glass

**- 3 -**

**- The Island of Glass -**

"Wait a minute…" Marshall said as Kai exploded forward down the glass quarry. "You can't mine glass!"

"No, you can't." Nemo said simply, watching Kai leap between the wooden platforms below.

"Then what the hell is going on here!?" Marshall said, exasperated.

"Glass mining." Nemo replied.

"But you've just agreed you can't mine glass, so they can't be glass mining. Something else must be going on here." Marshall raised his hand and ran it along his chin. "Why pretend to be mining glass when everyone knows that to do that is impossible?" He mused.

"Don't try to be cleverer then you are, Marshall." Nemo said, watching as Kai landed at the same location the ladder had fallen. "You can't mine glass normally, but this is the Grand Line, anything can happen; you need to be more prepared for things like this."

"I was never planning to go to the Grand Line before so I never really listened to the rumours and gossip coming from here." Marshall replied, glaring angrily at Nemo.

"Well, get prepared…and didn't I tell you to sort out your anger problem?" Marshall glared again but didn't speak. "Looks like Kai found something, let's go have a look." Nemo said calmly, moving towards a ladder that was leaning against the edge of the quarry. Marshall composed himself and followed after him quickly, he was as interested as Nemo in what Kai had found.

It turned out Kai had found a short, round, balding man in the remains of what appeared to be a smart suit. The blue fabric of the suit had been shredded as if by a thousand knives and the man's skin seemed to be in the same shape; thousands of tiny, shallow cuts ran along his skin, focused mainly around his forearms and face. The wisps of hair that remained on his head were still dark brown and his brown eyes were widened in terror; a mind-breaking amount of it.

Kai was still stood at the edge of the wooden platform he had jumped up on when Nemo pulled himself up the righted ladder and stood next to him. The man's eyes widened further and he pushed himself tighter against the wall as if he wanted to pass through it and when Marshall pulled himself up to the edge the man very nearly wet himself.

"What's wrong with him?" Nemo asked, gingerly taking a step forward, making the man squeeze himself tighter against the wall.

"If I was a Doctor, but I'm not a Doctor because Doctor's the Doctor, then I'd say something has him scared half to death. Our mere presence is close to tipping him over the edge, I'd say." Kai said with a bemused grin. "I can't say as to what put him into this condition and I can't get close to ask lest he actually goes and dies on me." Nemo took another tentative step forward and the man actually squealed in fear until he stepped back again.

"Oh, damn it all!" Kai said suddenly and strode forward quickly. The terrified man squealed again and dived away from Kai, into what Kai had thought to be a patch of growing glass. It turned out that it was a small tunnel, smaller than the short man's girth, and as the man's body hit the glass, the hard shards dug into his flesh through his suit. Kai dived forward and caught the man by the ankles as he tried to drag himself further into the cubby.

"Stop it, you crazy old man; you'll be sliced to pieces." Kai called as he decided how to extract the man without doing what he worried the man would do on himself. He couldn't come up with any ideas but suddenly Nemo stepped to his side with his pipe drawn and smashed the glass shards closest to the entrance of the hole.

"That'll stop some of it, but he isn't going to stop pulling himself deeper. Just yank him out and he'll have to deal with the pain." Nemo explained while shoving his pipe forward to break a stubborn piece of glass.

Kai nodded his agreement and tugged sharply on the man's ankles to pull him out. A scream emanated from the glassy hole but Kai managed to extract the man quickly with only a few scratches compared to the scars that already covered his body. However, that didn't stop him struggling as he desperately tried to pull himself free from Kai's grip. Nemo started forward but Marshall lunged over and placed a large foot on the man's chest, pinning him to the ground.

"That'll do." Kai said and released his grip on the man's ankle so he could bend forward and clasp a hand over the man's head. He struggled for a second more before a physical wave of energy travelled down Kai's arm and struck him in the head. The man instantly stopped struggling and drew in breath quickly before his eyes started to roll into the back of his head. Just as his pupils disappeared his eyes shut quickly and his body went slack.

"You can let go now Marshall." Kai said, releasing the man's head and standing back.

Marshall looked sceptical for a second but the man was clearly unconscious. Nemo had already stepped back and replaced the pipe to its holster on his back. "What did you do to him?" Marshall said as he too stepped away.

"I hit the reset button." Kai said, biting one of his fingernails.

"What?" Marshall said but the man's eyes flickered open and focused on Kai.

"Haoshoku…" the man said and Kai looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "He used Haoshoku."

"Hao-what?" Marshall said with a confused look. Nemo's silence also spoke of his confusion.

"Nothing." Kai said and sat down on the floor so he could look at the man's eyes without looking down. "So then, what's got you so scared?" he asked without hesitation.

The man looked stunned for a second before shaking his head as if to gather his senses. "If I'd not seen many things in my life, I would of said that he was a monster; but he was plenty scary enough. He arrived on the island 6 months ago and immediately took control; he wanted the glass, you see. There's not another island in the world that can supply the glass we get from the land here." The man was still slightly wild and spoke quite fast, but Kai managed to keep up.

"He forced us down into the mines, he was the one who created this quarry. It was torture, he made us crawl down the cracks, deep into the quarry to get the best bits. The glass stabs you at all times, in all directions, back up even a step and they dug deeper; the only way to go was forward. People died in there, pierced by the glass, trapped forever in that prison." He shuddered but managed to continue his babbling. "I'm the last one left, everyone else who was sent here is dead, but I didn't want to go back down! I knew my next trip would be my last, I couldn't hold on any longer! He just laughed in my face and told me that…" he stuttered to a stop when Kai raised his hand.

"Let's rewind a little bit shall we, I have no idea what you're talking about. Let's start with where we are." Kai spoke slowly, to counter the speed the man was talking at.

"You're on Essiria, the Island of Glass!" the man said as if Kai was the dumbest person in the world.

"Oh really?" Kai said genuinely before waving down the man who had tried to speak again. "So who are you?"

"I apologise, I've been babbling haven't I?" the man said before slapping his hands together either side of his head. "My name is Erbert, I am…was the mayor of Essiria." He hung his head in shame but Kai didn't seem to notice.

"I never thought I'd get to see Esseria, everyone knows you make the best glass in the world; I never realised it was because you mined it!" Kai looked around at the cubby hole they were in, a new wonder in his face.

"Yeah, everyone." Marshall muttered, but let the conversation continue.

"Never on this scale though, we knew that we shouldn't take too much." Erbert said. "He never listens though, he just takes and takes and takes!"

"Who's 'he'?" Marshall asked but Kai waved away the question.

"Why can't you mine too much of the glass?" he asked instead, watching Erbert carefully.

"Because if we take too much, the Island will fall apart." Erbert looked up with a tear stained face. "If you haven't been here before you don't understand that the glass forms naturally underground in such quantities that it holds the island together. We couldn't let it all go to waste, so we nibbled at it; creating small tokens that we could sell for great value."

"So how do you know it holds the island together?" Marshall asked, butting into the conversation again.

Kai let the question slide this time and nodded at Erbert to answer. "Because we got greedy…" he said, tears welling up in his eyes again. "We built our famous capital and nearly killed everyone on the island when the earthquakes came." He looked up at Marshall solemnly. "This island used to be twice the size, you know." Marshall raised an eyebrow.

"And?" Kai prompted.

"The capital survived and we swore to maintain it in honour of the fallen. We still mined the glass but it much, much lower quantities; just enough to keep the city from degrading too far. This naturally left leftovers so we forged them into various things to continue our trade; to keep us rich." Erbert wiped his tears away. "So we became famous, and then he came."

"Go on then, who's the terrifying 'he' you keep speaking about; is he a pirate?" he said suddenly, a large smile plastering his face with excitement.

"No, he calls himself a Bandit." Erbert said and the smile slid from Kai's face.

"That's just no fun at all, Bandits are boring as hell. Sorry, carry on."

"He's already killed or enslaved most of the pirates that chose this route into the Grand Line; only a few managed to escape. Most of them were powerful or famous enough already that he hid and made us pretend nothing was wrong while they passed through. None of them realised anything was wrong and departed joyfully."

"Okay, so not only is he a Bandit but he's also a coward; continue." Kai said, a frown starting to form on his face.

"That's how he's kept control for so long, and he's terrifying because he has no limits to what he will do to the people, to me! He uses families as threats and doesn't hesitate to kill them off if a person doesn't do what he wants, he's a monster. It's almost a blessing that I've seen worse, or I'd be gone already."

Kai stood up without a word and gestured at his crew mates to come at stand next to him at the end of the platform. He glanced once at Erbert, who was still sprawled on the ground, and then moved in closer to Nemo and Marshall. "You know what we're going to do right?" he asked quietly.

"Presumably we're going to go in there and kick this Bandit's scrawny little butt." Marshall said through clenched teeth.

"Surprisingly, I agree with Marshall." Nemo said with a shrug. "It seems you want to overthrow this man who rules Essiria with terror."

Kai nodded. "Exactly but we're not just going to kick his ass. We're going to completely decimate him and make him wish he had never decided to enter pirate waters!" he punched the palm of his hand and turned back to Erbert.

He offered his hand and pulled Erbert to his feet when he accepted it. "Come on then Mayor Erbert; take us to Fortessa. Take us to the Palace of Glass!" Kai said with enough conviction that Erbert nodded fiercly before realising what Kai had said. A stricken look crossed his face but as he looked upon Kai, Nemo, and Marshall he slowly realised that these pirates meant business.

"I'll take you there, just please save my city!" he said desperately before heading towards the ladder that would let him get down from his hiding spot.

_A/N: Ta da! Hope you enjoyed that! Just a little explanation about the whole 'glass mining' thing. Basically, it sounded cool when I came up with it so I went for it! Simples, right? Anyway, keeps your eyes peeled for the next chapter heading your way!_


	6. The Palace of Fortessa

**- 4 -**

**- The Palace of Fortessa -**

Taking the lead of the small group of pirates, Erbert lead them expertly towards the central city; close to the centre of Esseria. Kai had taken up step directly beside the former mayor while Nemo and Marshall hung back a couple of feet to allow them to talk without interruption. Nemo held back Marshall whenever he looked as if he wanted to step forward and join in with the conversation. Despite the glass pits and growing mass of trees, Erbert clearly had no trouble finding his bearings as he led them in a much straighter line than Kai had done early with his weaving. Since they had set of, no one had said a word and an uncomfortable silence had settled on the group. Suddenly the density of trees dropped away sharply and a long stretch of clear ground appeared in front of them. Either side of the path were small posts, about a foot in height, constructed out of glass and pierced into the ground.

"What's all this about?" Marshall said as he stepped forward and kicked one of the glass posts. This immediately set him hopping around clutching at his toe, which was now throbbing with pain.

"It's known as the Glass Way." Erbert said quietly. "Any paths on Esseria that are flanked by these posts are a direct way back to the capital. It's an easy way to prevent anyone getting lost, since all they'd need to do is find a path with these and then they can at least get back to Fortessa without any trouble." Erbert shrugged and then turned to walk down the glass flanked path.

"An interesting idea…" Kai mused, crouching down to inspect one of the posts. "I take it it's worked out so far?" his question caused Erbert to stop and turn back to face him and nod. "Pretty intelligent I suppose. Oh, by the way, what's the Pose Lock on Esseria?" he stood up and looked across at Erbert, who had a blank look on his face.

"The what?" Erbert said eventually as Kai didn't look to be about to reply to his stare.

"The Pose Lock…" Kai said slowly, wondering why he had to even ask; everyone knew what the Pose Lock was. "As in, how long will it take before my Log Pose locks on to the next island?"

Erbert's blank looks suddenly flipped to understanding as he answered. "Oh, I see. You'll have to stick around for a week before it sets." The warm atmosphere was showing as he reached up a wiped sweat from his brow.

"Not terrible then…lead on!" Kai gestured forward animatedly and Erbert nodded before turning around and setting off again. Kai waited until Nemo and Marshall had caught up before leaning towards them. "It's Pose Lock used nowadays?" he whispered.

"Never heard of it." Marshall said plainly before following after Erbert.

Kai looked across at Nemo but he simply shook his head to indicate he had never heard the phrase used either. "Everyone used it back in the day; what's happening to the world?" he muttered to himself before setting off at a fast walk to catch up with Erbert at the front.

The sun was starting its arc towards setting when Kai glimpsed the first hint that Fortessa was within reach. A large smile widened on his face and he turned to look at Marshall and Nemo. "This should be as impressive for me as it's going to be for you, no doubt. I've never been here either!" he was almost giggling with anticipation. Erbert nearly smiled himself as he remembered introducing many people to their first visit to the magnificent capital. Then he remembered that it was in the hands of a terrible person and his smile dissipated like smoke.

The hint that Kai was smile out was that as the sun arced downwards, what seemed to be a second sun was rising from behind the small hill. The light shining upwards was bright and clear; dazzling in the sky despite it still being daylight. Kai actually bounded up the small rise to come to a stop at the peak, laughing heavily in delight at the view that lay before him. Erbert simply smiled weakly at his side. Marshall and Nemo were next up and the city before them stunned them with its beauty.

"Wow…" Nemo eventually got out, just as Marshall let loose an impressed whistle.

Fortessa, the capital city on Esseria, was every bit as magnificent as anyone could have described a city completely constructed out of shining glass. From the hill they were on, they could see the entire city in all its glory, spending in the shining light of the sun. It was shaped like a giant hourglass, wide at both ends leading to a single structure in the centre. The centre building was known as the Palace of Glass and it was constructed with frighteningly tall spires, heavy towers, swirling ramparts. It was like someone had taken it directly out of their imagination. It was as crazy as it was beautiful and anyone would be dazzled by it.

The rest of the city was built and set out much like any other city; long sweeping roads flanked by buildings connected together. Small enclosed alleys, wide expansive squares, it was all there. However, everything, every building, was constructed out of glass and shined in the light. Around the city was a wall about 14 feet in height, topped with a walkway that armed men patrolled somewhat half-heartedly.

"The wall is new." Erbert said, bringing the three Silver Age pirates out of their wonderment. "It was one of the main results of creating that quarry." He stopped to shudder but controlled himself to continue. "He wants to make sure that people stay out when they are not wanted. But as I mentioned before, he will as much invite people in as avoid them."

"I take it he has taken up residency in the palace?" Kai asked, cracking the knuckles on his fingers one at a time with a threatening stare aimed at the central building.

Erbert actually laughed before containing himself. "Sorry, sorry. No, he hasn't managed to break in there. The Emperor's private guard has prevented that and I'm pretty sure he doesn't really want to be in there when the Emperor returns."

Kai stopped his business with his knuckles and turned his head to look at Erbert. "Emperor? I didn't know Esseria; hell, any island had an Emperor! And I thought you were the Mayor?"

Erbert took a step back in shock at Kai's stream of surprise but recovered quickly. "I am the Mayor!" he said loudly before realising what he had said. "Before he came and took over, anyway. The Emperor is rarely around and he doesn't dilly dally with the likes of running the island or anything. He simply rules it as the highest authority."

Kai was still a little confused but he hid it. "Who is this Emperor then, who the hell becomes the boss of a country and then doesn't even try to run it?"

"You may know him as Royal Shichibukai Abekket Quasar."

"Holy crap." Marshall said, making Kai turn around to look at him.

"Never heard of him, but if he's a Shichibukai I suppose he's plenty strong. Why isn't he here beating up this bandit character?" Kai said, brushing off Abekket's name like it was nothing.

"As I mentioned before, Lord Quasar doesn't really spend much time here; also even if we did wish to contact him, we have no way to do so save through the marines, but they haven't shown up here since he took over."

"Ok. Whatever." Kai said, waving his hand in front of him. "Let's go beat up this Bandit guy then. If the palace isn't his base, where is it?"

"A Hotel/bar called The Shining Beacon. You can see it from here, about halfway up the left half of the city." Erbert said, pointing as he spoke. "See that large open square of grass with the square building in the middle, that's the Beacon."

"I see it, let's get on it." Kai said before starting down the hill, heading directly towards the large wall that now surrounded the city.

It was quite the trek. In order to have seen the city in the way they did, it took them close to two hours before they were coming up on the wall that prevented easy access to the city. Like everything else in the city it was made of glass, so it was transparent but not as clear as a window. It was like looking through an ice cube, wavy lines and a slight frosting making it translucent more than anything. Kai dashed forward quickly and placed his back to the wall before sliding down to sit on his heels. Erbert scurried across to join him and Marshall and Nemo took cover in some thick bushes.

"Right, so we'll need to make our way around to the far side, I know the secret entrance he had built, so we can sneak in there." Erbert started to say but stopped when he saw Kai looking up at two guards that were patrolling towards them on top of the wall.

"Wait here." Kai said before springing to his feet, taking a step forward and leaping straight up into the air to the surprised gasp of Erbert.

With a gentle back flip, he landed on the top of the wall, directly in front of the surprised guards. "Hi!" he said enthusiastically, watching as the two men tried to draw their swords to attack. Kai stepped forward with his superior speed, grabbed a head in each hand and slammed them face first into the glassy ground. He used enough force that when he pulled them up to slam them down again, he realised that he had imprinted their faces into the glass, complete with a scattering of cracks. Kai then released his grip on the two men, letting the fall limply to the floor. He left the two of them lying there and jumped back over the edge, to land next to Erbert.

"Nemo, Marshall!" Kai called and his two crew mates quickly crossed the gap to crouch in front of their Captain. "Up you go." He said and pointed up to the top of the wall. Both of them looked from him and then to the top of the wall, before looking back to him.

"How do you expect us to get up there, not even I could reach that high." Marshall said as Nemo just looked on silently.

"Really…" Kai said with a sigh before dropping to one knee and holding his hand out with the palm facing up. "Come on then, put your foot here." Marshall hesitated so Nemo stepped on first and with as little effort as chucking a tennis ball; Kai sent Nemo flying into the air where he lightly stepped onto the top of the wall like he had known he would land there. "Your turn Marshall." Kai said, brandishing his hand.

"I don't know if I…" Marshall started to say before Kai interrupted.

"Do it or I'll throw you up by your hair." Kai stated with a flat stare. Nemo reluctantly did as he was told and placed his foot on Nemo's hand. "Alley oop." With the same movement as he had done with Nemo, Kai sent Marshall into the air where he landed almost gracefully next to Nemo.

"I can't do that!" Erbert said, shrinking away from Kai.

"Don't panic, I'm not going to let you try, come here." Kai beckoned Erbert over to him and turned is back. "Jump on." Erbert hesitated but eventually climbed on to allow Kai to stand up. "Hold on." He said before bending his legs fractionally and leaping into the air. Erbert had to bite his tongue to stop himself from screaming, and he let loose a long exhale of air when Kai's feet touched the top of the wall without killing them both. Kai let Erbert down when he thought he could stand on his own feet and then looked down the wall to see a set of stairs leading into the main city from the wall." I think we'll go down there, yeah?" Kai asked with a grin as the others nodded.

* * *

Doctor was dozing lightly on the deck when he heard the strange noise. He didn't react at first, he simply strained his ears to pick up the sound and try and figure out what it was. At first, he thought that it was a bird flying enthusiastically but decided that there was nothing to indicate wings being flapped. It was definitely moving through the air and quite some speed, and if he was right, it was headed directly towards him and the ship. He listened for a minute more before giving up and opening his eyes to look at what was flying towards him. It took him by surprise.

There was a man surfing on some kind of object through the air. As he drew closer, Doctor's keen eyes could see that he wore a long white kimono, white trousers, and a white top underneath. His hair was short and black and as he got even closer, Doctor could see his striking blue eyes and pale white skin. The folds of his Kimono were flapping wildly in the wind that rushed past him but he stood unaffected with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

The flying man slowed to a near stop and floated lazily towards the railing of the ship before stopping completely, staring at Doctor with his striking eyes.

"How can I help you?" Doctor said politely, tipping back his hat with the knuckle of his right forefinger.

"I saw your flag from afar and did not recognise it." He said, enunciating each word carefully as though thinking hard about what he was saying. The man's eyes were constantly flicking around Doctor's body with an examining look that Doctor recognised; it was the type of look he used when he was diagnosing someone.

"And since you have no fear of approaching what you no doubt know to be an active pirate ship, I can guess you're either a marine or a pirate yourself." Doctor said, locking his own eyes on the man's flickering ones.

The floating man's eyes suddenly stopped flickering around and locked with Doctor's stare. "I know you." He said slowly.

"Well, I certainly don't know you." Doctor replied, still keeping the polite tone.

"Doctor Umbra, crew mate to Kai Velure; past and present."

"So you do know me. So who are you?"

The man paused; the wind picked up and flapped the edges of his kimono. "Abekket, Abekket Quasar."

_A/N: Well, it has been rather a long time since my last update hasn't it? Not much I can say other than 'Dexter' is awesome and all of my time I usually allow for writing was taken up by watching through the entire series to catch up and watch Season 8. Now I've caught up I should be updating more often. I suspect some of you thought I'd dropped this without notice, and I don't blame you, but never fear for I'm not done here._


	7. To Observe A Step Ahead

_A/N: Hi again! Forgot to add it to the end of my last chapter, but __**Abekket Quasar **__is the work of __**Jetakon**__. So a virtual round of applause for him for giving me that character! Carry on readers._

**- 5 -**

**- To Observe A Step Ahead –**

"I was expecting everything to be see-through to be honest." Marshall whispered as the line of people crept forward.

Letting Erbert take lead, so that they wouldn't get lost, Kai and his crew had formed a single line and were following the chubby ex-mayor along the shining streets of Fortessa. As they had seen from the top of the hill, excluding the palace, the city was built much like any other they might have come across in the Grand Line. The only exception to this city was the fact that every building, every monument, every sign, was made out of varying styles of glass. The styles of glass were what Marshall had been commenting on. The outer walls of all the houses were made of glass that had the look of misting over with heavy condensation, meaning they were completely opaque, but still as smooth as a window.

"You really think that normal glass would give people the privacy they'd want in their own homes?" Erbert said with near sarcasm in his voice. The closer they had gotten to their destination, the more confident he had become; a reminiscence of his time as mayor of such a beautiful place. "It is the same reasoning behind the substance altering of the wall we crossed. As the properties of the wall had been softened so that it wouldn't shatter upon an impact, so have the walls of the houses been altered to make the glass retain its reflectiveness, and yet provide complete privacy."

"Well, haven't you cheered up." Marshall said, as close to grumping as a man like him could get.

"I…" Erbert started but quickly quieted at a raised hand from Kai.

"Enough! Erbert, where are all the people?" they had been sneaking around for 10 minutes and none of them had seen a single soul since the two guards on the wall.

"I can only surmise that he is having one of his many discipline lectures at the Palace walls." Erbert said sadly. "He does them to remind the population that he is in charge, even when he is hiding from pirates."

"A sad, weak, coward. I'm liking this guy less and less." Kai growled.

"The lectures are mandatory and so when he holds them, the streets are deserted. He holds them outside the palace walls to implore to the Emperor's Private Guards that he is the one who is really in charge."

"However, with everyone at this lecture, our path should be open to get to the Shining Beacon before the coward arrives there." Kai paused. "Two questions, Erbert, before we move again. First question; what is this Bandit's name? Second question; why the hell is that symbol carved into one of your buildings?!" Kai spat the second question out with contained rage as he jabbed his finger across the street to a squat, one level building that had an eagle flying out of a rising sun carved above the door.

Going by the tone of his voice, Erbert decided to answer the second question first. "Because that is their base here within the city. I presume you are familiar with the Order of the White Eagle then?" Erbert thought it was an innocent question and took a shuddering step back at the anger that was leaking out of Kai.

Kai started to move towards the building but Nemo levelled his pipe in front of him as Marshall stepped around to block his way. "Captain, they are not our goal here." He said quietly, ignoring the confused look of Erbert.

"If they are there Nemo, I will end them." Kai said quietly himself, through clenched teeth.

"They won't be there." Erbert said, causing the three pirates to swivel their gaze to him. "They have taken a liking to him lately and accompany him on his errands as personal guards. They are certainly more skilled then his ragtag bunch of bandit friends; similar to the ones you beat at the wall."

The anger from his eyes faded and he focused on his two crew mates in front of him. "Thank you Nemo, Marshall." He nodded to each in turn before facing Erbert. "With the city at the lecture, we no longer need to sneak. Get us to the Beacon as fast as you can."

Erbert nodded in agreement and led Kai and his crew down a number of roads, not sneaking as before but remaining vigilant to any guards that may appear during their quick travels.

By the time the large opening that would lead to the Shining Beacon appeared, the sun had moved halfway to setting. They didn't stop or hesitate as Erbert led them out onto the lush green grass and led them directly towards the glass block in the middle. That's the form the Shining Beacon Hotel/Bar took, a block of shining glass that reflected the light of the sun in patterns across the grass. It was three floors high, judging by the triangular indents splitting its height into three. The corners of the building had been sliced and cut so that they were slightly curved inwards to give the reflecting light something exciting to do, and that's exactly what it was doing.

As Erbert led them towards it, Kai noticed there was a door in each of the two faces they could see from where there were and he guessed that there were two more on the other side. "Erbert!" he hissed and the ex-mayor turned to face him. "Take us to the entrance that leads to the bar area." Erbert nodded and changed track to lead them towards one of the doors they could see.

Once within reach, Kai dodged ahead of Erbert and flattened himself against the wall, indicating for the others to do the same. "Anyone home? Any guards we'll need to take out?"

Erbert shook his head. "No, everyone has to be at the lecture, even the guards. It'll probably have finished by now. People will be heading back and he'll definitely be heading straight to here."

"Good, you find a place inside to hide. My crew and I will deal with this." Kai smiled and Erbert nodded slowly. Kai started to move, the others moving to follow him, when he jerked to a stop and held his hand back to stop the others. "There's someone in there, sat at the bar." He said.

Erbert's eyes grew wide. "Preposterous, no one would dare skip the lecture." He shuffled forward at Kai's gesture and glanced through the transparent door. "I don't know him."

"What? He's not one of this Bandit's gang then? Or one of the inhabitants?"

"No."

"Let's go say hello then." Kai said with a smile and then without any sense of treading carefully, he pushed his way through the glass doors and into a room fitted out as any bar would be. Marshall and Nemo were directly behind him, spreading out to either side once through the door, and Erbert practically hid at his back.

The room was set out much as anyone would expect of a bar, there were a number of round tables with stools stood around them, and a wooden bar just shorter than the length of the room ran along the far wall and had high stools set up along its length. To the right of the room was a roped off area that held a low rectangular table sitting in front of a large black sofa, big enough to sit 4 regular sized people with ease.

The man that Erbert didn't know was sat in the centre of the long bar, nursing a half empty tankard in his right hand while his left arm was leaning on the bar itself, his head resting on top of it. From how he was sat; Kai saw that he had white hair that hung to about chin length with stray clumps sticking out at odd angles, he was wearing a green boiler suit with a hood hung down the back and empty belt loops around the waist. A black strap running around the back of his head showed that he wore something on his face, and from the body proportions he looked to be about 12 years old.

As the doors chinked shut behind them, the figure lifted his head slowly off his arm, shaking it as he did, and turned slowly in his stool to face them. Sure enough, the black strap that run around the back of his head held a pair of wind goggles over his eyes; thick leather rims and angles lenses.

The boy tilted his head to the side. "You're not one of the Bandit's gang." He said without making it a question.

"Neither are you." Kai replied, his smile now a confident smirk.

"I'd leave your hands by your sides, both of you." He said, still keeping his eyes locked on Kai.

Since no-one had even attempted to move, Nemo and Marshal both had confused looks on their faces. "I'm sorry?" Kai said

"And don't try and split up and try to surround me, it won't work. Although I will say that your co-ordination without speaking or even making eye contact is quite impressive." The boy continued, still staring at Kai.

Nemo and Marshall glanced towards Kai, but he was still looking at the boy so they looked at each other. Neither of them had moved or even attempted to move since entering the room and yet the boy was speaking as if they had given some kind of indication about what they intended. Marshall moved to open his mouth but the boy spoke again.

"There's no point asking 'what the hell are you talking about?' because I'm not going to explain it in any way. Just know that there's no point trying to do anything I haven't already told you to do because I'll know before you do if you try anything else." The boy smiled, still staring at Kai as he spoke.

"Ah…" Kai said suddenly, silencing Marshall as he tried to speak. "…I understand it now. I'm ashamed to say it took me a minute to work it out." Kai started walking forwards slowly, indicating with a hand gesture for Marshall and Nemo to remain where they were. As he began walking, the boy's eyes started flicking all over the place, as if he was trying to look at 10 different people at once.

"What's the matter? Can't you tell if I'm going to go right…?" The boy's head whipped to the right but Kai hadn't done anything except walk forward slowly "…or maybe to the left…" the boy's head shot left "…or perhaps from above?" Once again the boy's head followed the directions Kai was saying but he was still walking forward without doing anything. "What if I attack?" The boy jerked backwards in his chair and went toppling to the floor in a scrabble to dodge an attack that Kai never attempted to do.

The boys eyes suddenly focused back on Kai with a frown on his lips, his smile had vanished a while ago, and Kai lent over him with his own smile showing teeth. "You're a little bit young to be playing this game with me, boy." Kai reached out his hand, and without hesitating of flinching, the boy reached up and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

Once steady, the boy brushed down his boiler suit and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up as much as tidying it. "That's never happened before." He said with his frown still on his face.

"Well, feel lucky that it was a friend that you first encountered it with and not someone who was trying to kill you." Kai said, slapping the boy on the back with a laugh.

"You're a friend?" Was the boy's replied, rubbing his shoulder where Kai had slapped.

"Of course! The names Kai Velure, this is Marshall, and that's Nemo." Kai held out his hand to shake with as Nemo and Marshall walked up to the pair.

The boy made a minute shrugging action and took Kai's hand in a firm shake. "I go by Alpha."

"So Alpha, since you're not part of this Bandit's flunkeys, then I suspect you are here for much the same reason my friends and I are; to take him down."

Alpha nodded. "Pretty much. We passed through two weeks ago, and we decided that something was decidedly odd. So it was decided I'd come back and find out what was going on. Sure enough, as soon as I arrived, this time secretly, I discovered the existence of Bandit and his gang. I observed for a couple of days then decided that he had to go down."

Kai nodded, his silence allowing Marshall to talk. "Wait a second, what was all that business a second ago?"

Kai turned to him. "Mmm? Oh right, you mean my approach. Nothing especially exciting, Alpha here is skilled in observing his opponents but I'm simply better at it." Alpha and Kai locked eyes and shared an invisible nod.

"That makes it even more confusing!" Marshall exclaimed but Nemo just shook his head.

"We'll learn about it when we're told about it Marshall. More importantly, don't forget that this Bandit is likely on his way back here." Nemo said matter-of-factly.

Erbert let out a squeal and rushed to the door from where he had been crouched behind a table while Kai was confronting Alpha. "He's here, he's here!" he called and gestured through the door at a group of approaching people, a man clearly leading them towards the very room they were in.

Kai smiled before speaking. "Erbert, find that hiding place we were talking about. You three…" he pointed at the remaining individuals. "Listen closely and don't bother arguing." He looked pointedly at Alpha with the last remark but the young boy simply shrugged.

"Same goal." He said simply.

* * *

Doctor and Abekket were currently sat opposite each other on a set of collapsible chairs with a table in between them. They both had cheap looking tea cups in front of them and they were both simply looking at each other over sips of their drinks. They were still on deck, the wind ruffling cloth and hair, and Abekket's ship-like wheel, the object upon which he had been floating earlier, lie resting against the table leg.

"You're not a very talkative person, are you?" Doctor said, clearly breaking a silence that had been there for a while.

"I have not much to speak about; you did not recognise me or my name." Abekket replied in his slow, careful voice.

"I'm afraid not. I'm currently not up to date with people I should recognise as important or not. But you can hardly blame me; you haven't exactly divulged your identity to me." Doctor said before taking a sip of his whiskey-laced tea.

"There is no need." He replied simply and the pair of them went back to silence.

It didn't last long this time as Abekket seemed to finally decide on starting a conversation. "Why are you on this island? Where is the rest of your crew? Are you the Captain?"

Doctor raised an eyebrow but decided to allow the questions. "Simply because it was the first island we locked on to; no doubt you are aware how navigation on the Grand Line works. I'm not the Captain, no, and my friends are exploring the island."

"I see." Abekket said. "It seems it is time for me to leave, I must speak with Erbert." He placed his empty cup back on the saucer and stood up. "Thank you for your hospitality, pirate." The wheel leaning against the table suddenly moved and floated across to hover in front of Abekket, who stepped up onto it.

"Let's hope next time you haven't got any orders to capture me, eh?" Doctor said and Abekket levelled a stare at him before rising into the sky and heading inland, brushing the tops of the trees with his wheel. The marine symbol on the back of his kimono flapped in the winds.

"I hope he isn't too much trouble when he bumps into Kai." Doctor said as he began packing the chairs and table away. "Oh well, he's a big boy.

_A/N: Another chapter for you lovelies. Firstly I'd like to say that credit for __**Alpha**_ _is due to __**Newtilator, **__so thanks to him! In the next chapter expect to see some excitement and the like. See you again!_


	8. The Truth About Bandit

**- 6 -**

**- The Truth About Bandit –**

The man known simply as Bandit was leading a large group that could easily have been described as a procession. He was directly in front of the group, standing tall enough that he would be seen even from the back. His bristly hair shone brown in the dying light and his eyes glinted with a dark hue of charcoal. Bandit was limber and muscled and he showed it off with a white sleeveless jacket that hung down to his knees, open at the front, baggy white trousers that hung loosely around his legs until they were tucked into high boots, polished to a black shine.

Bandit was taking long strides toward s the hotel/bar called The Shining Beacon and directly behind him marched the contingent of the Order of the White Eagle that had taken it upon themselves to act as his personal guard. There were about twenty of them in total, formed up into 4 lines of 5, and they were all dressed in a steel cuirass, steel backed gloves, steel faced boots, and the light beige fabric that finished the uniform of one of their soldiers. The symbol of the Order, an eagle flying out of a rising sun, was carved into the left breast of their cuirasses. All of them had a sword strapped to their left hips, shields hung on their left arms and all held a long bladed spear upright in their right hands. It was quite the sight to see in the sunlight that bathed the open green with its rays.

Behind the Order were a much more ragtag bunch of armed individuals that had made up Bandit's gang before the Order had stepped in to fill their role. They all wore various clothes, wielded various weapons, and simply followed their leader in a gathering of dirty, smelly, bandits.

This procession, led by Bandit, approached the doorway that would lead to the bar area and smiled. After all the talking he had done, beating into the populace that he was the undisputed leader of them, he was thirsty and he knew he had acquired some rather expensive wine from the last pirate group to pass through. With that in mind he swept through the double doors constructed out of reinforced clear glass and for a second, he didn't even register that the bar was not empty as he had been expecting. Bandit froze in his tracks, blocking the door in the progress, and let his eyes flick around to pick out the people in his bar. At first he thought they were defiant city dwellers who had decided to protest his lectures, and then he took a proper look.

Nemo was sat at a random table close to the centre with his pipe lying across the wooden surface, his hand resting lightly on the metal. Marshall was on one of the tall stalls by the bar and he had spun around to face the door and leant back so that his arm was rested along the bar and his hand actually dropped down behind the counter due to his height. Only one of his swords, Rekishichizu, could be seen poking up from his shoulder. Kai was lying down on the sofa, his legs propped up on the armrest while let his hands rest on his stomach. He didn't even look towards Bandit when he entered the room.

"Who…the hell…are you?!" Bandit said as anger began to etch into his face.

Immediately as he spoke, he was jogged forward slightly as the Order of the White Phoenix soldiers pushed past him in two lines and quickly formed a square around Bandit, shields held steady and spears levelled outwards towards the uninvited guests. "Sir!" one of the soldiers on Bandit's left called. Bandit looked across as saw Alpha sat in the very corner on a stool he had taken from a table, grinning softly in his direction.

"You…" Bandit said. "I know you. You passed through here a couple of weeks ago."

Alpha didn't say anything but looked across at Kai, but the Pirate still seemed to be asleep so he spoke. "You recognise me, but I don't recognise you. Not from my first visit anyway. I've gotten to know you quite nicely in the last couple of days."

"I thought you moved on with your crew, why have you returned?" Bandit crossed his arms in front of his chest with a sneer.

"Well, while you were hiding yourself away like a coward, we decided that something was fishy. We decided I would only require my attention, seeing as you decided not to confront us when you had the change; it speaks of your power." Alpha smiled confidently, leaning back on his stool to lean on the glass wall behind him.

"How dare y…" Bandit started to say before Kai interrupted him.

"Enough." He said abruptly. Kai hadn't moved while Alpha had been talking but he moved now as he slowly spun his body and sat up at the same time, placing his feet on the ground. The smouldering of anger could be seen clearly in the glow of his eyes. He looked slowly around at the gathered soldiers and Bandit stood in the middle of them. Kai then stood up slowly and raised a finger to point at Bandit. "I'll come to you in a minute so shut up for now."

Bandit opened his mouth to protest but Kai's glare made him stop in his tracks. Kai then turned his angry gaze on the Order of the White Eagle standing before him. The look was so intense that the line of soldiers directly facing him shuffled back cautiously and seemingly without realising they had done so. "You White Eagle lot now have a simple choice; leave here now, I'll finish my business with the bandit and you'll all stay alive, or you could stay and I'll rip each and every one of you into bloody shreds." He didn't shout it, instead he settled on a menacing near-whisper.

A minute passed in complete silence before one of the soldiers with a gold bar or rank etched into the shoulder of his cuirass racked up the courage to speak. "I don't know who you are but we are members of the Amplitudo Primoris, we won't surrender just because you ask nicely. If, however, you wish to surrender to interrogation without trouble, we wouldn't hold it against you." The officer managed to speak without physically shaking, but the tremor in his voice told that he felt Kai's anger clearly.

"Amplitudo Primoris…" Kai mused. "You are under the command of Captain Hartland?"

The officer paused before answering. "Indirectly, yes, we are."

Kai smiled with true malice. "Then you are leaderless; Captain Hartland has already died at my hands."

The officer's face hardened with shock and anger. "You lie!" he hissed, taking a threatening step forward as he spoke.

Kai widened his smile to show his teeth. "He died after I nailed him to a cross by his wrists and ankles."

The officer roared and lunged forward, aiming to pierce Kai through the heart with his spear. Kai simply made a short side step and grabbed the long blade of the weapon in his hand, which had changed from flesh to diamond in an instance. The officer tried to pull it back, but Kai tightened his grip. "Shall I do the same to you?"

"Kill them!" the officer screamed.

"Marshall!" Kai called at the same time.

The square of soldiers started to step forward with the shields raised and their spears ready, but they hadn't quite anticipated Marshall. The one-armed pirate lunged forward, while at the same time jerking his arm forward so that instead of passing over the top of the counter, it smashed its way through. Rather, Ryuujin Toorima that he held in his hand smashed its way through as Marshall swung the large sword in a wide lateral arc towards the line of soldiers in front of him.

The soldiers of the White Eagle were well trained and didn't panic as they raised their shields as one to block his attack. The blade crashed into the shield of the first soldier but instead of stopping as he had expected, the shield simply crumpled at the point of impact and the soldier felt the sword crash into his side, lifting him off his feet. Marshall didn't let the blow stop his arc as he swung the soldier across to crash into the man next to him and continued until he had ploughed through six of them.

This attack made the other soldiers stop in their tracks to turn and look at the pile of bodies Marshall had just left and Nemo took this time to introduce them to his nightmares. While they were distracted, Nemo clenched his hand around the pipe he had laid on the table and in an explosion of electricity and red smoke, it turned into a long spiked whip. The explosion had gained the attention of the line of soldiers in front of him and as they turned back to him, he attacked his first opponent.

With a flick of his wrist, the smoky whip flashed through the air and wrapped around one of the soldier's heads. He screamed as the long spikes dug into his flesh and Nemo pulled hard, dragging him forwards. The soldier stumbled forward and Nemo pushed him to the ground as he leapt over him, landing next to the second soldier in line. The pipe in his hand had reverted back to normal and he jabbed it hard into the soldier's throat, making him split blood and fall into a wheezy coughing fit as he tried to breath. With him down, Nemo moved on, deflecting the spear strike of the next one and cracking him round the head with his pipe. As he continued down the line, Alpha bounced past him and landed in front of a shocked Bandit.

"Did you think we had forgotten about you?" Alpha asked as the Bandit squealed and tried to punch Alpha in the head.

The boy smiled and moved his head just enough for the first to pass harmlessly by, leaving Bandit to open his eyes wide in surprise. The bandit through another punch but Alpha dodged it by a hair yet again, repeating it for the barrage of fists Bandit sent his way. When he stopped to catch his breath, Alpha was stood there with an amused grin on his face. "It's useless, it's useless." He said with a shake of his head.

Bandit cursed under his breath and spun around to dash towards the door, only for Alpha to land in front of him. "I knew you were going to do that." He said, and kicked him in the gut so that he bent forwards, only to receive a small fist right in the centre of his solar plexus. The blow caused him to stumble backwards onto his buttocks and make wheezing breaths in an attempt to breath.

Suddenly all was quiet and Alpha looked up to see that the other pirates in the room had made short work of the soldiers. Nemo was sliding his pipe into the holder on his back as a soldier collapsed at his feet, Marshall was leaning on his sword while it had 4 men pierced through the chest and pinned to the floor, and Kai was now holding the officer by the neck a number of feet clear of the ground. Alpha made a face to indicate he was impressed.

Kai had one hand around the blade of the spear and the other clasped firmly around the neck of the officer that had tried to attack him. "I thought about killing you the same way I killed Hartland, but I think you'll like that too much; to die in the same way as him." Kai started to squeeze to break the man's neck but a noise made him stop. "What was that?" he asked faux-politely.

"I said…" the officer managed through his squashed windpipe "…that no matter how many of us you kill, Captains or Privates, it is too late; we will soon own this land."

"What land?" Kai said, genuinely interested in what the officer was saying.

"All land." Was his reply and Kai sensed that was all he had to say, so with a squeeze and a sharp twisting motion, he broke the officer's neck and dropped him to the floor.

"I hate those guys." Kai said. He looked at the bodies Nemo and Marshall had created and nodded approval before walking across to the still struggling to breathe Bandit. "Hi." He said with a smile, causing the Bandit to look up at him. Then without warning, he kicked him in the chest with enough force that the bandit was sent flying back towards the doors. He shattered the glass of the doors as he passed through them and slammed to a floor, sliding a couple of feet before coming to a stop with blood leaking from a number of glass scratches.

The kick seemed to have solved Bandit's breathing problems as he suddenly gasped for air and returned his breathing to normal, no longer plagued by a shocked diaphragm. As Kai walked out of the broken door, Marshall, Nemo, and Alpha in tow, Bandit managed to get to his knees, holding his hands out defensively. "Please, please don't kill me! I'll leave; I'll leave right now and never come back!"

"You truly are a coward." Kai said before turning to the three behind him. "So, shall we let him run away with his tail between his legs?"

"No!" a strong voice shouted from the doorway. The four of them turned to look and saw Erbert standing there breathing heavily. Kai had forgotten about him.

"Erbert, so glad you could join us." Kai said with a mock grin. "Shall we…"

"Silence pirate!" Erbert said and Kai was so shocked he actually did fall into silence. "The Emperor speaks!" he swept his arm above his head and pointed towards the sky.

All of them followed where he was pointing, and sure enough a figure bathed in the orange light of the setting sun was floating above them on what looked to be a ship's steering wheel. As the figure descended, his white kimono flapping in the breeze, Bandit actually released a whimper as Marshall and Alpha both gasped in surprise. Even Nemo's eyes widened slightly as the figure stopped a couple of inches from the grass, floating there as his eyes locked on to Kai.

"Kai Velure, we meet so soon." Abekket Quasar, Royal Shichibukai and Emperor of Esseria, said slowly and deliberately.

_A/N: I'm on a roll with the release of these chapters. Hopefully I can keep it up for a while yet. Hope you enjoyed it and keep eyes and ears peeled for the next chapter heading your way._


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